I was eagerly anticipating the 1st game of the 2010 Super 14 last Friday, at Cafe Sofia in Greenpoint, when in walked our good mate, Bob Skinstad. He had just flown back from shooting an episode of Boots & All on Supersport the night before and came in for a quick bite to eat.

We got chatting about, amongst other things, the raging success of the recent 2010 Cape Town Tens Tournament, the Super 14 and how we thought things would unfold in 2010 with the new tackle law interpretations. The conversation drifted to how we thought the referees would perform. If there would be more consistency with citings this year, now that there are specially appointed citing commissioners for the entire duration of the 2010 Super 14. Some exciting new faces to have a look out for and so on.

From there on out, things got serious when we started talking about our fantasy rugby SuperDreamTeams on Supersport. Each of us reckoned our DreamTeams were going to kill it in the opening round. As it turns out, we both did pretty horribly, due to a few unfortunate late withdrawals within our respective starting lineups. (you can still sign up for Supersport SuperDreamTeams and join in all the action, by clicking here)

All in all, it was a pretty good morning of rugby with a great breakfast thrown in for good measure. Just as Bob was leaving, he mentioned I should make a turn at the V&A Waterfront his week to see a project he was doing. I was pretty curious to say the least.

So off I went to the V&A Waterfront, only to find Bob in an orange jumpsuit, locked away in a wooden prison cell. It was the last thing I expected to see, so I quickly found out exactly what was going on.

This is what went down:

 BlogSpotRugby had a chat with Bob Skinstad about the bobsforgood foundation:

• Dooley: Tell us a little bit about the Bobs For Good Foundation? Why shoes, and what you guys are trying to achieve through it, and through being locked up in this cell?

Bob: Bobsforgood is a foundation that raises money to put shoes on needy school kids within South Africa. We found a whole niche area in school shoes, because it an issue that desperately needs to be addressed country wide. We believe that shoes are a symbol of wealth and privilege in South Africa. There are many, many people in South Africa, who are very poor, who put a lot of money into their best pair of school shoes. So we believe it will give the kids hope, pride and dignity, and associate all these positive feelings with their learning and their learning experience. The teachers have bought into it and they are assisting us in finding the neediest kids. We believe that by supplying these kids with simple necessity like having a decent pair of school shoes, it will accelerate them into a platform where they can believe in themselves, if the county believes in them. So, what we are doing here is raising money for that foundation and that cause.

• Dooley: How did this great idea come about? 

Bob: Ron (Rutland) and I were looking for something good to do once we came back to South Africa. We believe in social enterprise and we also believe in manufacturing in this country. So we support local companies who are in the shoe manufacturing industry. We teamed up with Dougie Boyes and got the ball rolling.

• Dooley: How does it work?

Bob: It’s a simple concept. All about shoes (and jobs). Shoes for underprivileged kids (and jobs in South Africa). Because, believe it or not, shoes can help lead the way out of poverty. Shoes give hope, pride and dignity. For every pair of bobsforgood shoes you buy for yourself, a brand new pair of school shoes are donated to a child in need, at no extra cost to you. In the process, changing lives. One step at a time.

This clip explains the concept in a great way: [bobsforgood]

• Dooley: How does one get involved?

Bob: There are a few different ways to get involved, you can check them out on the bobsforgood website.

A little bit more on the “Walk This Way” initiative: [givengain]

Wow, what a great foundation. Everyone should be supporting bobsforgood and doing their part in uplifting our beautiful South Africa.